Field of the Disclosure
The present invention relates to a system and server for receiving transaction requests.
Description of the Related Art
The “background” description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in the background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention.
Modern electronic banking systems allow funds to be electronically transferred between bank accounts of different banks using electronic transaction request messages (transaction messages). Such a method of transferring funds is both secure (making use of various known security protocols which allow secure transfer of data over a network) and convenient (since it allows bank account holders to make requests to transfer funds at any time, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year).
However, although such electronic transaction request messages may be made at any time, funds are only actually transferred between banks on a periodic basis. This is known as a “settlement cycle” model. During each settlement cycle, transaction messages issued by banks are received and recorded. Then, at the end of the settlement cycle, funds are actually transferred between banks (this is known as “settlement”), on the basis of the recorded transaction messages. The time period between settlement cycles is typically 8, 12 or 24 hours, although any other suitable time period may be used.
Because the eventual settlement between banks is based on the recorded transaction messages made during the settlement cycle, it is of the utmost importance that the recorded transaction messages are stored and managed effectively, even in the case of, for example, a technology failure or natural disaster. This ensures that, at the end of each settlement cycle, each completed transaction is taken into account during settlement and is only taken into account once. This prevents any overpayment or underpayment of real money between banks. The present invention therefore aims to alleviate at least the problem of providing a resilient and flexible system for effectively storing and managing electronic transaction messages.